At a time when high school kids' schedules are crammed with academics and extracurricular activities and their attention spans are overloaded by constant information, enticing 700 high school kids to drop in on the guidance counsellor for some career advice is a mammoth task.

Now is a time when an independent parent voice is particularly needed. The Calgary Board of Education system is still bursting at the seams, a new provincial government is a real possibility, low energy prices likely portend future funding challenges, and the CBE is in the midst of implementing a provincial mandate that changes much about the way our children are taught and assessed.

There’s little doubt that the multitude of screens that young people stare into each day has consequences. Children who spend too much time under the spell of digital technology have been found to have shorter attention spans, get lower grades in school and be more likely to be obese.

CALGARY - With Jim Prentice expected to announce Monday where he will run in a byelection, opposition parties say they are ready and eager to hit the campaign trail against the yet-to-be-elected premier.

The threat of a seven-fgure defamation lawsuit launched by the Alberta Teachers’ Association has triggered an apology and retraction from a longtime supporter of the Alberta PC party accused of defaming the organization. In June, the ATA filed a $1-million lawsuit against Piotr (Peter) Pilarski, a former campaign manager for Calgary MLA Sandra Jansen, over comments Pilarski made on Twitter suggesting the association supports and condones pedophiles.